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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "softzzzz@terra.es" <softzzzz@terra.es>
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 23:35:59 +0100 (MET)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!


FROM:DR SMITH REUBEN MICROSOFT AWARD TEAM 20 CRAVEN PARK, HARLESDEN, TE=
LEPHONE:+44-702 403 6589 LONDON,NW10,ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM. =20

CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! DEAR WINNER, M=
ICROSOFT COOPERATION MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YO=
U ARE A WINNER OF OUR ANNUAL MS-WORD LOTTO LOTTERY CONDUCTED IN EUROPE BEIN=
G THE HOST OF THE EVENT FOR THIS PRESENT YEAR MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNING PR=
OGRAMS HELD ON 1ST FEBUARY 2008. =20

YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESS OR COMPANY EMAIL WAS ATTACHED TO MSW LL. WITH =
SERIAL NUMBER S/N-00168 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 887-13-865-37-10-83, AND CON=
SEQUENTLY WON IN THE FIRST LOTTERY CATEGORY. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROV=
ED FOR LUMP SUMS OF =C2=A31,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION BRITISH POUNDS) PAYABL=
E IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF NO:MSW-L/200-26937 THIS IS FROM TOTAL PRIZE =
MONEY OF =C2=A3 400,000,000,SHARED AMONG THE LUCKY INTERNATIONAL WINNERS I=
N FIRST AND SECOND CATEGORY. =20

ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED FROM WORLDWIDE WEBSITES ESPECIALLY YAHOO MAI=
L THROUGH OUR MICROSOFT COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM 21,000 NAMES, 3,0=
00 NAMES FROM EACH CONTINENT (CANADA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATE, EUROPE=
, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND OCEANIA, AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL "E-MAIL" PROMOT=
IONS PROGRAM, WHICH IS CONDUCTED ANNUALLY FOR OUR PROMINENT MS -WORD USERS =
ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORL=
DWIDE. YOUR FUND HAS BEEN INSURED WITH YOUR REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 AND =
WILL BE READY FOR DELIVERY. IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY ONE OF OUR CLAIM=
AGENT IN CHARGE OF YOUR ZONE (MR.JAMES ZULU).=20

YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE USED IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUR CLAIMS O=
FFICER, PLEASE NOTE THAT, YOU ARE TO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER VIA EMAIL =
AND PHONE AS WE ARE PROMOTING THE USE OF E-MAIL. ALSO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO=
CALL HIM TO CONFIRM YOUR WINNINGS AND GOVERNMENT TAX PAYMENT THAT IS ALL, =
AS HE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE NECESSARY DETAILS ON HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZ=
E. =20

AS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL YOU ARE TO QUOTE THIS SECURITY CODE MSW/FE=
B/XX06 TO YOUR CLAIMING AGENT. THIS IS TO PREVENT SCAM. SOUTH AFRICA PRIZ=
E CLAIM AGENT DETAILS BELOW; NAME: JAMES ZULU. Tel: +27 73 135 8128 EMAIL=
: jameszulu700jameszulu700@yahoo.com
ALSO SEND TO HIM YOUR DETAILS BELOW; 1.TEL/FAX: 2.SEX: 3.AGE: 4.MARI=
TAL STATUS: 5..NAME: 6.COUNTRY: 8.OCCUPATION: 9.REF NO: 10.SECURITY CODE N=
UMBERS: 11.LUCKY NUMBERS: 12.SERIAL NUMBER: REMEMBER, ALL PRIZE MONEY MUS=
T BE CLAIMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ALL FUNDS NOT CLAIMED ON OR BEFORE THE FI=
XED DATE WILL BE RETURNED AS UNCLAIMED AND DONATED TO CHARITY ORGANIZATION =
IN AFRICA. NOTE: IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES, PLEASE REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOU=
R REFERENCE AND BATCH NUMBERS AND YOUR SECURITY CODE OF MSW/FEB/XX06 IN ALL=
CORRESPONDENCES WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER. DO NOT REPLY ANY OTHER MAILS LIK=
E THIS ON NET, AS THEY ARE A LOT OF SCAM ARTIST OUT THERE PRETENDING TO BE =
US. KINDLY CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER MR.JAMES ZULU. AT ONCE YOU WILL BE =
ASKED TO PROVIDE SOME DETAILS TO ENABLE THE OFFICE PROCEED WITH YOUR WINNIN=
G CERTIFICATE AND FILE KEEPING. =20

CONGRATULATIONS, ONCE MORE FROM THE ENTIRE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF MICROSOF=
T COOPERATION TO ALL OUR LUCKY WINNERS THIS YEAR. THANK YOU FOR BEING PART =
OF THIS PROMOTIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM. OUR SPECIAL THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO BI=
LL GATE OF MICROSOFT AND ALL HIS ASSOCIATES FOR ALLEVIATING POVERTY ROUND T=
HE WORLD. YOURS FAITHFULLY, DR REUBEN SMITH. MICROSOFT PROMOTION TE=
AMVICE PRESIDENT=20







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